D2C brand Nat Habit raises $4 million in funding led by Fireside Ventures

New Delhi: Nat Habit, a natural personal care direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand, has secured $4 million in a round led by early-stage venture fund Fireside Ventures, with existing investors participating.

“The fresh funding will be used to accelerate growth, increase channel presence, expand categories, invest in marketing, technology and scouting for fresh talent,” Nat Habit cofounder Gaurav Agarwal said.

Nat Habit, founded in 2019, has raised funding previously from Surge Ventures (Sequoia), Whiteboard Capital and angel investors including Spencer's Retail & Nature’s Basket managing director Devendra Chawla, Neeraj Kakkar, chief executive of Hector Beverages which makes Paper Boat drinks, Snapdeal chief executive Kunal Bahl and Yoga Bar co-founder Suhasini Sampath


The fresh round also provided exits to some of the early angel investors.

Agarwal said the natural-ayurveda brand, which operates in the skin, hair and baby care categories, is now scaling up presence on marketplaces Amazon, Flipkart and Tata Cliq.“So far, we have been able to build the brand primarily using our website with just 10% of the revenue coming from marketplaces. We now plan to leverage marketplaces to drive the next wave of growth,” he said.

Fireside has invested in over two dozen consumer-focused start-ups including Mamaearth, Boat, Yoga Bar, Bombay Shaving Company and Slay Coffee.

The ayurveda market in India is expected to reach Rs 71,000 crore by 2024, data by ResearchAndMarkets showed.

According to a report by HDFC Securities, D2C consumer brands are disrupting categories (particularly beauty and personal care). “We believe D2C companies have the right-to-win in this space, and established incumbents need to step up their game to sustain market shares. Category leaders will be unable to sustain high market shares, which will be impacted by competition from niche offline or D2C players,” the report said.